Starfish Therapies

A pediatric therapy company operating in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. We provide physical, occupational, speech and aquatic therapy services in the most beneficial and convenient setting for you and your child, including our clinic, currently located in Burlingame, your home, school or daycare.

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Putting Myself in Someone Else’s Shoes

June 19, 2012 by Stacy Menz

image retrieved from: ahaleadership.com

So, I am going to be having hip surgery in late July.  Not really how I wanted to spend my summer but sometimes (or a lot of the time) life doesn’t go according to my plan!  Its been interesting for me to watch and notice how I have compensated and adjusted my movements over the course of the last couple of months.  Many of these compensations have been completely unconscious and by time I noticed them they are a habit (that means it is much harder to break).

For instance, I now find myself standing with all of my weight on my right leg.  I have to remember to remind myself to stand with my weight on both legs.  I also have been bending to pick things up from the floor without bending my knees (causing my back to perpetually hurt) so I now have to think about squatting down and engaging my abs every time I want to lower to the ground.  There are a lot of other little things I have noticed as well but what amazed me was how quickly my body made these adjustments without me even noticing it.

The problem with changing a habit is I now have to think about a lot of my movement which isn’t always the most convenient when I am used to moving without giving it a second thought.  This is what got me thinking about how so many of the kids I work with have developed compensatory patterns to help them succeed.  While it is creating a short term fix for them it isn’t always the best in the long run and can develop a habit or movement pattern that can create secondary changes down the road.  I don’t think I ever consciously realized how much thought went into changing a habit and how much practice our kiddos needed so that a new movement pattern became second nature.

Going through this and noticing these small things will help me to focus even more on caregiver education because while I get to see these kids for an hour or so throughout their week its the day to day carryover of the little things that will make the big changes!

Related

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: education, fine motor development, gross motor development, Motor Smart Kids, occupational therapy, physical therapy, Starfish Therapies

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Our family moved to the bay area 6 years ago, and Starfish Therapies have been a part of our family ever since. Everyone at the clinic is caring and warm. The owner always looks for ways to improve the clinic and the services provided. The therapists are patient, enthusiastic, and know how to motivate the kids to do their best. Even after moving more than an hour away from the clinic, we kept going back to Starfish for intensive therapy sessions every summer! We cannot thank Starfish Therapies enough for helping my daughter to get stronger and to become more independent over the years!”

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Locations

  BURLINGAME / MAIN CLINIC
  1541 Old Bayshore Highway
  Burlingame, CA 94010


  SAN FRANCISCO
  (located in KidSpace)
  3401 Mission St.
  San Francisco, CA 94110


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  (located in Agile Physical Therapy)
  3825 El Camino Real
  Palo Alto, CA 94306


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  (located at Sensitive Solutions)
  30 Avenue Portola, Suite 200 C & D
  Half Moon Bay, CA 94018

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